Pokemon Special: Life, Love and Lore
by Nobadi-liek-u
Summary: <html><head></head>I promise, the titles of the actual fics are better than the title I put up there. Collection of Oneshots, Song fics, drabbles and OSPW's. Ships: Special, Oldrival, Mangaquest, Frantic, Commoner, Haughty, Agency/Chess. see inside for more details.</html>
1. Prologue

**Hello, dear reader! My name is Nobadi-Liek-u, Nobadi for short, and welcome to the Prologue of** **my first collection of one-shots. A few things to clear up before we begin:**

**-These oneshots vary in genre, mostly romance but a with a few others scattered in from time to time. The genre of each ficlet will be in its pre-script, with the secondary genre below if one exists. **

**-The ships used in the romance fics will be: Special (RedxYellow), Oldrival (GreenxBlue), Mangaquest (GoldxCrystal), Frantic (RubyxSapphire), Commoner (DiamondxPlatinum), Haughty (PearlxPlatinum), and Agency/Chess (BlackxWhite). Again, the ship(s) in primary focus will be listed in the pre-script, with any ship(s) in secondary focus below.**

**-Keep in mind that it's possible not every fic will be a straight-up oneshot. I may put in some Drabbles, One-sentence-per-word fics (to be referred hereafter, if ever again, as OSPW's), Song Fics, or anything else that I'm too lazy to think of right now. This depends on whether or not I get more comfortable writing these.**

**-Green is the boy, Blue is the girl.**

**That's it. Please favorite, follow and review (Or don't if you don't want to), and enjoy the series!**

**I Don't Own Pokemon or Pokemon Special. **

**Nobadi, Signing off.**


	2. Just Friends (Agency)

**Just Friends**

**Pair: Black and White (Agency/Chess shipping, whichever you want to call it)**

**Genre: Romance**

* * *

><p>"Yo, Prez,"<p>

White looked up from her desk to where Black was sitting. It was a sunny day in Unova, and she wished she could be outside. Unfortunately, two of her employees had been seriously injured after harrassing a wild Darmantian. Third-degree burns all over, very nasty. It had been entirely the employee's faults, and she planned to fire them as soon as they were well, but she was still grounded with all the paperwork. She'd given Black some menial task to do, but he'd stayed to keep her company while she worked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you say that we're friends?"

White was taken aback. "Of course I would, Black. You know that."

"How so?"

This was a bit unlike him. Usually his thoughts were always on the Pokemon League and nothing else, so he never had the mental capacity to ask thought-provoking questions.

White thought for a moment. "Well, here you are, when you really should be working, keeping me company. On top of that, you're in my office, on a bean bag chair, throwing a tennis ball at the wall, when normally I don't even let my execs in here unless it's an emergency. So, yeah, I'd say we're friends," She eventually replied.

"Okay, so if we're friends, then how come we never hang out?" He asked.

"Don't be silly, Black. That's what we're doing right now, isn't it?" She said, starting to become a bit exasperated.

Black stared at her for a moment. "You call this hanging out? You haven't acknowledged my presence once since I got here. I've been trying to get your attention for like 15 minutes now!"

White stared back. He had her there, she had to admit. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. Ever since Black had been retrieved from the Light Stone, her work had become busier and busier. Horrified, she realized that she couldn't remember the last time she and Black had had a real conversation.

"You're...right," She said, a bit quiet now. "I can't call you my friend if we don't ever do anything together, can I?" she paused a moment. "So what do you propose we do about it?"

Black jumped up, grinning. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do about it," He said, walking towards her desk. "I'm taking you to Nimbasa City tonight. We can go to the amusement park!"

White's heart skipped a beat. "You mean...like a date?"

"No, not like a date. Did I say that?" Black said playfully, with the same goofy grin on his face.

White looked back to her paperwork, secretly disappointed that he hadn't said _yes._ "I dunno, Black. I've got a lot of work to do here, and I don't know if..."

Black put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look into his brown eyes. This time she was fairly sure her heart stopped completely. "What if...What if you just forgot about all of that for now?"

"But...I..." White stammered, struggling to form a coherent sentence. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was probably a bad idea. After the paperwork regarding the crispy employees, there was bills, resumes, form letters...

But looking into Black's eyes made all of that melt away. She, the most dedicated worker she knew, decided to blow off work.

"Alright..."

* * *

><p><em>'her house is so friggin big!' <em>Black thought as he approached White's front door. Somehow it had never occurred to him the White would be quite wealthy. She did own a company, after all. While not as big as Platinum's house, her abode was definitely larger than Gold's, and Gold's house wasn't small. Black estimated he could probably fit 3 or 4 of his house into White's. Somehow it made him feel inadequate.

White lived in Nimbasa City, unbeknownst to Black. In fact, she only lived a few blocks from the Nimbasa amusement park That meant they wouldn't have to fly to get to there for their, *ahem*, friendly-night-out-that-most-definitely-wasn't-a-date.

Of course, Black had been lying through his teeth when he'd said this wasn't going to be a date. Somehow, she'd failed to pick up on his not-so-subtle hints that he liked her, most likely because she was drowning in paperwork 90 percent of the time. So he'd decided to take her out. When the moment was right, he'd tell her.

Black knocked on the front door.

"Don't you find it ironic," he said as soon as she opened the door. "that I've been to the homes of every single Dex Holder, except for the home of the one I'm closest to?"

White giggled. She was dressed in her normal clothes, but somehow she looked even more beautiful now than Black had ever seen her. "If you wanted to come over, all you had to do was ask," she replied, as though they were small children discussing a playdate.

Black gathered up some confidence. "You look very nice tonight," He said, unable to stop the heat rushing to his face.

"Uh...Thanks..." White replied. She wasn't faring much better; her cheeks were also tinged pink. But after a few moments she smiled. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," Black grinned. In another burst of confidence he offered her his arm, and was very happy when she took it.

They had only walked a few hundred feet when Black realized he had a problem; White wasn't talking. He'd expected her to begin a conversation right away-While he was the loud one, she was the more talkative of the two. He hadn't counted on this kind of awkward silence. Which meant that if he wanted to keep the guise of a night of fun between two friends, he'd have to make conversation.

"So..." he said. Always a good start. '_come on, I trained for this!'_ Black had spent countless hours with Musha eating his dreams, keeping his head clear so he could devise strategies. Somehow, that had all flew out the window when White had taken his arm.

"I never knew your house was so big," He started. "Come to think of it, I never knew where your house was. If we're friends, don't you think that's a little weird?" Black said this before he realized he'd basically said the exact same thing when she'd opened the door. He mentally slapped himself.

"I don't really get why you're so concerned about these kinds of things all of a sudden. You never cared before," White shot back. Great, now she was probably annoyed with him.

"Well, I'm just saying. Look, you say we're friends. I'm willing to say that you're my best friend. Don't you think that best friends should know about these things?" Something dawned on him. "Prez, I don't even know your last name!"

White stopped walking and turned to look at him. "You...don't?"

"Well, of course not. You've never told me, and all the advertisements for the agency just refer to you as "White". Not even your business cards have your last name on them," He replied, growing more and more alarmed. "You really need to work on getting better PR people or something."

White smiled suddenly. "You want to know my last name? Alright. My last name is-"

At that moment, an ambulance sped by at top speed with its alarms wailing. The noise subsequently drowned out all other sound, making White's answer indistinguishable from beyond the Fourth Wall. Black, however, heard the answer just fine.

"That's a nice last name. It suits you," He smiled. _'Stupid!' _What kind of a compliment was that?

"Well, you've never told me your last name, either," Replied White.

"Mine? It's-"

A fire truck flew by with sirens blaring. White heard the answer, though.*

"Must have been some sort of accident or something..." Black said with mild interest. They didn't have any more time to wonder what had happened, because they'd now reached the front gates of the amusement park and Black forgot all about it.

"You know, you don't have to call me 'Prez' all the time," White countered, picking up where the conversation left off. "We _are _friends, after all. Call me 'White'!"

"Okay...White," Black said, trying it out. It seemed weird to not call her "Prez".

White smiled. "You know what? You're right. We don't hang out enough. I can already tell that this is going to be fun," She said happily. She let go of his arm and skipped ahead. "I don't get out enough anymore. Gosh, I haven't even been here since-"

White turned to her left and stopped in her tracks. "Since...Since..." She started to shake.

Black gave himself a mental trophy for _biggest idiot alive. _How could he have forgotten? This was where White had had that horrible experience involving N, which culminated in her Tepig Gigi abandoning her and allowing her to fall off the ride. Black remembered her in the days that followed that. Her bright eyes had become dull and lifeless, and she'd shuffled around like a zombie. It wasn't until they'd learned about the Battle Subway that she'd snapped out of it, and seeing her like that had made his heart break. And standing right next to them, huge and covered with neon lights, was the ride on which it had happened...

"The Ferris Wheel," He whispered to himself, running up to her.

White was pale and sweating, starting to hyperventilate. He had to do _something, _so he grabbed her hand. "White, it's okay! We don't have to ride that, I promise! Come on, let's go this way," He said frantically, pulling her away from the Ferris Wheel. She was panicking, which was causing him to panic. Shit, this wasn't good at all. Black pulled her towards the nearest bench and sat her down.

"Are you okay? We can go home if you want to," he asked her. After a few seconds she stopped hyperventilating and her face returned to its normal color. She smiled weakly at him.

"No, I'm fine. I just...lost control for a second," she said, her voice shaking a bit. "I can do this, so long as I don't have to ride that..._thing." _

Black swore silently to himself. The Ferris Wheel had been the key to his entire plan. He had decided that would be the best place to confess to her. It would have made sense if the girl was anyone other than White, since it was the most private place in the park. But her deathly fear of the things rendered the strategy useless. Her sanity was more important to him than his own desires, so he decided to completely scrap his plan and just try to have fun with her.

"Okay. What do you want to do first, then?"

White smiled, genuinely this time. In fact, it seemed almost mischievous, which was an expression Black had never seen on her. She turned and pointed behind them, to where a hypercoaster stood silhouetted against the evening sky.

_'that's my girl,' _Black chuckled to himself. This time, it was her dragging him by the hand they ran towards the coaster.

* * *

><p>Black and White slumped on the bench, both nearly crying from laughter. This had been genuinely one of the best nights of Black's life, Although it probably would have been less so if White hadn't been with him. The Ferris Wheel incident had been forgotten almost immediately, so after that, the night had gone very smoothly. Besides the coaster, they'd ridden the Dodgems, the Scrambler and the Swinging Ship. White seemed to enjoy thrill rides. Apart from that, they'd gone to the haunted house. Although it was very cheesy and not scary in the least, White had stayed pressed close to Black the whole time, although she hadn't seemed to notice.<p>

"Thanks so much for doing this, Black," White said. The massive stuffed Teddiursa which she and Black had wasted 10,000 Poke* trying to win at a games booth sat between them. "I'd forgotten how much fun just hanging out with a friend could be."

"Always glad to help, Prez...I mean, _White,_" Black replied, tipping his cap.

For a few minutes, the pair just sat in silence, observing the park and enjoying being in each others presence. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and Black figured White would want to be going home soon. He'd take her back as soon as she asked, but for now, they sat.

"Black?" White said. He turned to look at her. "I think...I think there's one more thing I want to do here, before we go," She said slowly.

"Of course, what is it?" He said, flashing his trademark goofy grin.

White hesitated, then turned to the right. Her biggest nightmare filled her vision.

"I want to ride the Ferris Wheel," she blurted.

Black's grin faded. "Woah. Are you sure? I mean..." He trailed off when he saw the determination in her eyes. "Okay, then. As long as you're sure you want to," He said.

"I'm sure. Black, all my life I've been afraid. I've been afraid of Pokemon Battles. I've been afraid of Team Plasma. Right now, I'm afraid of too many things to count. If I can't face this fear, how can I face anything else?" She searched his eyes, looking for...she didn't know what, exactly. Understanding? Well, she knew Black would understand.

Black nodded slowly. "I understand," He said, standing up. "Facing your fears is one of the hardest things in the world. I've been there." He offered her his hand.

"Thanks, Black. You're a true friend," She said, taking his hand and standing up. Slowly, they started towards the Wheel.

The park was all but deserted by now. Most of the guests had gone home. As a result, There was no line for the Ferris Wheel. The ride operator opened the cage of the car at the station.

White almost froze again, but with Black beside her, she felt stronger. It gave her the power to get in the car. Black sat beside her.

The operator shut the cage and locked it. No going back now. White closed her eyes and waited for the ride to begin._ 'It's just a ride,' _she reasoned with herself. _'Nothing bad's gonna happen.'_

However, when she felt the sensation of rising, all reason left her mind. She began to hyperventilate again. _'NoNoNoNo...' _she screamed in her head, her eyes squeezed tight.

"White! White, it's fine, it's fine. I'm here, you're not gonna fall! I'm here for you!" Black said, becoming frantic again. He hugged her and held her tight, trying to calm her down, but she just struggled against him.

There was absolutely nothing for it. In sheer desperation, he kissed her.

To his relief, White stopped panicking immediately. after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. The car reached its apex before the two broke apart.

"What...What did you do that for?" White stammered, her cheeks totally crimson. Had she not liked it?

"I...Trying to calm you down, and..." Black took a deep breath. It was all or nothing this time.

"White, I love you. I have since we first met. I planned tonight so that I'd finally have a good opportunity to tell you that. I understand if you don't love me back. But I want you to know, you mean more to me than anything else."

White was silent. _one...two...three...four..._ Black counted the seconds in agony.

As a response, she kissed him back.

"I love you too, Black. I didn't realize it until now, But I love you. You mean the world to me. I guess I just never realized it until now," She said when they broke apart. She seemed to have forgotten all about where she was. '_That isn't right,' _Realized Black. She'd come on here to face her fear, and Black wanted to help her with that, but he'd just ended up kissing her. That seemed a bit selfish.

So, he pulled her close while he thought of a way to remind her about it without seeming cold. They'd just confessed to each other, for crying out loud. This wasn't gonna be easy, and the feeling of being close to her was so intoxicating that he couldn't think properly.

"Hey, look at the view!" White exclaimed, jumping towards the side of the car. Black looked at her, surprised.

"Wow, you can see all the way to Castelia from here!"

Black looked and saw that she was right. The skyscrapers of Castelia City were just visible on the horizon. Before he'd had a good look, however, the Wheel began to descend.

"I guess you've conquered that fear, then," Black said, laughing.

"Hey, yeah! you're right!" She laughed. "That wasn't so hard with you beside me." She moved back over and hugged him tight.

Well, tonight had definitely exceeded expectations. Black had done what he had come here to do: confess to her, and had a lot of fun along the way. He'd helped White face her fear, and he'd gotten a few kisses as a reward. All in all, a pretty good night.

* * *

><p>"Listen, Black, Thanks <em>so <em>much for taking me out tonight. I learned a lot about myself, and I couldn't have done it without you," White gushed.

They stood on White's front porch, holding hands in the moonlight. Black couldn't have been happier with how the night had gone.

"Oh, it's too bad I have to go back to work tomorrow. I would have liked to do this again," White said wistfully.

"Hey, I still work for you. We'll see each other again tomorrow, and we can do something again after work if you feel like it. I'm always free," Black replied, brushing a rogue lock of hair off of her face.

"That's true. Hey, what do you say we go for Casteliacones tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a date," Black said happily.

"Great! See you tomorrow, Black, and thanks again!" White kissed his cheek and turned to go back into her house. Before she could open the door, however, Black spun her back around.

"No problem," he said, leaning in. "After all," he said, just before kissing her lips. "We are friends, right?"

***Really, really sorry about this silly bit of lampshade hanging. I don't want to make up last names for either of them, and this was the best (Read: Laziest) way to conceal them without deconstructing an otherwise nice (IMO) little scene. **

****About 50 bucks, according to 1358456's conversion rate.**

**Nobadi, signing off.**


	3. Contradiction and Confusion (MangaQuest)

**Sorry to have to do this, but I can't take seeing a one-shot standing alone now that I have a collection. If you've read _Contradiction and Confusion, _you can disregard this chapter. It's the exact same story, just reformatted. If not, enjoy!**

**Contradiction and Confusion**

**Pair: Gold and Crystal (MangaQuestShipping).**

**Genre: Romance.**

* * *

><p>Crys wasn't the type of girl who had loads of self-confidence. It was the reason she usually dressed modestly in her lab coat, and on rare occasions a hat on her signtaure V-tails. She'd come to accept the fact that she was just a girl who would never be stunningly, amazingly beautiful like the others. She didn't have to <em>like <em>it, but she'd accepted it. Boys would never look up as she walked by, and the other girls would never associate with her. That was fine. Friends and boyfriends would only get in the way of her research and training anyway. She didn't have time for things like that.

Crys sighed and looked out her bedroom window. She knew that wasn't true. She knew that somewhere out there, her perfect soul mate was waiting for her, a kind, caring, compassionate boy.

So why had she agreed to that? a _date, _with _Gold._

Gold? Date? _what was going on here?_

Crys couldn't get over the thought of it. '_T__hat just happened. I went on a date. With Gold. Dating Gold.' _It just seemed so...surreal. Gold. Date. she couldn't get the two words out of her head. She wasn't sure if she loved herself or despised herself. It was _Gold, _the laziest, most arrogant, rudest, most annoying jerkwad she had ever met. He spent his days playing pool and sleeping, was about as productive as a bomb in an office park, and just couldn't seem to get enough of pissing her off. _  
><em>

_'And I like him anyways." _The thought surprised her. Surely, after all these years, she wasn't developing feelings for him.

The best or worst part (Crys wasn't sure which) was that the date was..._fun. _She'd really enjoyed herself with Gold. Okay, he'd shown up at her door in his street clothes on a skateboard, and fine, he'd almost started a fight with the restaurant manager over the bill, but honestly, she'd expected a lot worse. Two more different people you couldn't imagine. You'd expect it culminating in disaster, but she'd really had a good night. and now here she was, trying to fight her feelings for her friend.

She had more pressing issues to worry about. Namely, the deadline for her paper was coming up in 2 days and it wasn't even halfway finished. This was an important paper, and if she was late the consequences were pretty harsh, but she felt like all she could do was lie on her bed in ecstasy/despair.

Crys looked over at her desk, where her laptop sat. _'God dammit,' _she thought. _'I'm the leading expert on Pokemon Capturing in the world. I literally wrote the book on it (_This was true-she had put together a complete guide to Pokemon Capturing). _I'm one of the original 10 Dex Holders, one of the strongest trainers in the world, and I'm sitting here moping instead of getting something done. Well, no more."_ She got up and walked towards her desk. She had agreed to go hiking with Gold in 3 days. She'd sort out her feelings for him then. Revitalized, she began to type at lighting speed.

* * *

><p>Gold smashed his fist into a tree and watched a few bug and grass Pokemon tumble out. what the hell had he been thinking? Showing up on his skateboard was one thing, but he'd been wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing for 3 days, and they weren't exactly clean. Ruby probably would have had a stroke if he'd seen. And then there was the matter of him trying to take down that bastard of a restaurant manager, who'd taken one look at Gold, turned his nose up, and attempted to charge him double than what was on the menu. If Crys didn't like him before, she'd hate him now.<p>

Crystal. Crys, if you don't mind. Super Serious Gal, since she did mind. The girl he'd known since they were both 11, and the girl he'd loved since they'd met. The beautiful girl in the lab coat and dark blue V-tails and little yellow hat, the studious girl who was doing something with her life and made him look like a bum in comparison, the easily-provoked girl who he annoyed constantly just so he could see her again.

The girl of his dreams, and he'd just blown any chance he'd ever had with her.

Gold kicked the tree, almost cracking it in two. He then jumped back on his skateboard and kickflipped back up onto the path. It wasn't _all _bad. She'd agreed to go hiking with him in 3 days. Maybe, just maybe, he'd get a chance to redeem himself. And if not, at least he'd get a chance to apologize...

* * *

><p><em>3 days later<em>

The day Crys had been anticipating/dreading had arrived. Despite her resolve to stop thinking about Gold and crack down on the paper, she'd still only gotten it finished 15 minutes before her deadline, which was the closest she'd ever come to being late for something. She hadn't been entirely able to stop thinking of Gold. He was always there somewhere, in the back of her mind. And she had to admit, now that she was seeing him again in the flesh, her heart did a few jumping jacks in her chest. There was something about the way his hair fell over his eyes that she'd never noticed before. _'What's going on?' _She wondered for the millionth time. _'If this is what falling in love is like, please kill me now...' _Her emotions were all over the place and all together at the same time.

Gold stood outside her door. He had added a large hiking pack to his signature ballcap and jacket, but the grin was missing from his face. In fact, he looked quite unhappy as they set off for their hike. Crys couldn't help but wonder if it was her fault...

* * *

><p>Gold felt like crying, and he hadn't cried since he was 7. The two of them had now left Violet City, and neither had spoken a word. They were nearing their hike location now, and Gold feared that the entire trip would be spent in total awkward silence. This was a two-day hike, and Gold wasn't sure he'd be able to take that.<p>

_'Why am I so surprised by this?' _Gold thought, blinking back tears. Glancing over at Crys, he was glad that she hadn't noticed his near breakdown-according to him, his alpha-ness was his greatest strength (A/N: LOL, Gold, you naive idiot), and if Crys saw that he was even losing that, he would probably throw himself off of Tin Tower.

_'This is only confirming what I already knew. Crys will _never _like me. The only thing I can do is ask her to forgive me and hope it'll go back to the way it always was. That's the best I can do for her." _

After another half a mile, Gold broke the awkward silence. "This is where we turn off," He said quietly to Crys, indicating a small opening in the forest on the left of the route. Crys only nodded.

"Well...Ladies first," He tried, attempting his trademark grin. It ended up looking more like a sturgeon face instead. Crys, seemingly amused by the facial expression, cracked a smile for the first time in 3 days, but it quickly faded as she continued to brood. Gold sighed. It was not going to be easy to get back on her good side.

As they entered the forest, Gold racked his brain-again-for strategies in talking to Crys. For some reason, bugging her and talking to her casually, like they always did, seemed impossible. For the first time in his life, Gold had no confidence in himself.

_'Get your act together, Gold. This girl has been your best friend for years now, and you can't even say a single word to her? You're pathetic.'_

Gold looked over at Crys. To her credit, she seemed to be trying to enjoy herself. Her eyes followed the Bird Pokemon flitting from tree to tree. Gold knew that in her mind she was identifying each one-Pidgey, Spearow, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Spearow-and making split-second analysis on what would be the best way to capture each one. Years of Pokemon capturing expertise had kind of hardwired that way of thinking into her brain, as she'd explained to him. But Gold could tell that her heart wasn't in it. Her eyes lacked the excited shine that he had come to love so dearly.

'_That's your own fault, douchebag. you hurt her feelings by taking her out and embarrassing her, and now she hates you.'_

Crys broke the silence, much to Gold's surprise. "I-It really is beautiful out here," she said tentatively. "I really appreciate your taking me."

For a split-second, Gold was the happiest man on earth, but the feeling was quickly quelled. Was this just her natural friendliness, or did she mean something more? Whatever it was, it was enough to help him regain some of his charm, and he actually managed a grin.

"Well, you're welcome, Super Serious Gal. I always say that you need to get out more. Looks like you actually enjoy it once you're out here," he said, giving a little bow. To his surprise, Crys actually giggled. And just like that, all the tension seemed to fade away. They were just Gold and Crys again. The only problem was the the little voice in Gold's head kept on nagging away:

_'She's obviously just being nice to you so she won't hurt you. That's how she is. If you-'_

"Shut up, me," Gold said aloud. Crys gave him a a funny look, so Gold quickly turned away and began walking deeper into the forest.

Crys ran to catch up with him. Gold couldn't get over the fact of how happy she seemed in comparison to the initial awkwardness. For the next few hours, they walked and talked, comfortable with each other once again. Gold teased her, just as always, but this time she didn't seem to mind at all. She would just giggle or brush it off. There was something up with the girl, and it didn't seem to be that she hated him...

_A few hours later_

Crys was having the time of her life. In a few short hours, Gold had transformed back into his usual self, grinning and laughing and making jokes, mostly at her expense. She wouldn't have believed that he would have been thoughtful enough to take her somewhere that she would love. And she did love it out here-So beautiful and peaceful. More than once she'd caught herself laughing and clapping like a child at the antics of some Pokemon or another. Like now, for instance, she was staring into the stream, watching the Qwilfish float around all puffed up, like little bubbles. And with Gold at her side, it was magical.

Gold. Hm. The magical feeling dissipated as she realized that this was gonna be more difficult than she'd thought. She'd planned on telling him her feelings as soon as they'd started, But he'd begun walking quickly and avoiding eye contact, and she feared that she'd upset him somehow. She'd decided to wait until they'd set up camp for the night. For now, just being with him in this wonderful place was good enough for her.

Crys had been so engrossed by the Qwilfish, and Gold by watching her, that they didn't notice the clouds turning from white to dark gray until a thunderclap and the first few drops of rain pulled them out of their stupor. Before either of them could react, there was a full-on downpour. Gold laughed and grabbed Crys by the hand, pulling her to a nearby overhang jutting out from the cliff face beside the river. The overhang wasn't large enough for both of them to fit under, so Gold sent out his Tibo and used it as an umbrella. Tibo hadn't seen rain in a while, and being a water type, it couldn't get enough of it, so it put up with Gold using it as a tent. Together Crys and Gold huddled in their makeshift tent. and Gold was so close to Crys that she could feel his heart beating. He looked quite happy with this, although he was blushing-and Gold _never _blushed.

Crys saw her opportunity and took it. Very slowly and tentatively, she eased herself into the crook of Gold's arm and snuggled against him. Her heart was pounding, and she hoped Gold wouldn't notice. When she looked up at him, his expression was of a thousand emotions mixed into one face-He appeared ecstatic and shocked and terrified and excited all at the same time, and Crys figured her expression was probably the exact same. For what felt like hours they sat like that, holding each other, nose to nose. When Gold's lips first touched hers, she had just enough time to realize that her perfect soul mate had been right beside her this whole time before every synapse in her brain shorted out...

...

Gold knew he was taking a huge risk. If he'd ballsed it up and got it wrong, if he'd misread her body language, he wouldn't even have his best friend anymore. She'd never talk to him again. but it was a risk he was willing to take. Crys was clinging to him like a lifeline, staring into his eyes, her own eyes wide open. It would be impossible to misread that...Right?

and before he'd even steeled himself, he felt himself leaning forward and her soft lips touched his. Her eyes opened even wider in shock before closing, and she started kissing him back. His kisses grew more passionate, and his hands brushed her hips, her stomach, her ribs. He had felt no greater pleasure in his 16 years, and instead of quenching his hunger for her, every kiss made him want another. He never wanted this to end.

When it finally did end, Gold looked up in surprise to see that the rain had stopped and the sun had already set. It was getting quite cold by then.

Gold glanced at Tibo, whom he could swear was grinning at him. _'let them laugh,' _he thought. _'I love her, and if you find that funny, who cares? I have someone to love, what about you?' _

Beside him, Crys sneezed-_God, that's a cute sneeze-_and Gold realized that she was cold. He took off his jacket, draped it around her, and pulled her closer. All of a sudden, Crys began to sob uncontrollably. Gold was stunned-had he done something wrong?

"Hey, whats wrong, Crys? Please don't cry..."

"I-It's just...I never realized that...that I loved you...Until now. And...I've treated you like _dirt_! I...I don't deserve you..." She cried. after a moment, Gold made her look into his eyes.

"Crys, it's me who doesn't deserve you. I made fun of you every day! I tease you and annoy you just to see how far you'll go before you break! I'm a horrible person..." He felt tears welling up in his own as well.

Crys smiled through her tears at him. "That's not strictly true, is it? I think you annoyed me just so that you could see me every day. And i put up with it...because I wanted to see you too..."

Gold looked into her eyes for a full 10 seconds before his mouth crashed into hers again. he grabbed at her waist, and she pulled at his shoulders, both of them trying to get closer, but there was no closer. His body, her body. his breaths, her breaths-There was no difference between the two.

After a few minutes, their kisses got less hungry and more comforting. Gold knew that he loved this girl. He loved her with every cell in his body, and he wasn't afraid to let her know. Long into the night he held her, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, her neck. when she fell asleep, he held her, and slept beside her. Like statues, the were forever intertwined. Just before he fell asleep, he wondered what the next day could hold in store for them...and the day after that...and the day after that...

* * *

><p><strong>UGGGGGHHHH, the FLUFF. I LOVE IT. Those makeout scenes got a little bit hot. I had to listen to dubstep for like 2 hours afterwards to get all the arousal out of my system.<strong>

**Nobadi, signing off.**


	4. The Prisoner's Dilemma (Frantic)

**The Prisoner's Dilemma  
><strong>

**Primary Ship: Ruby and Sapphire (FranticShipping)**

**Secondary Ship: Gold and Crystal (MangaQuest) **

**Primary Genre: Romance**

**Secondary Genre: Uhh, Friendship, I guess?**

* * *

><p><em>Blue glanced around at the assembled Dex Holders in her house. "Do any of you know why I've called this meeting?" She was met with various expressions of "No". <em>

_"I've called you all here because...We're gonna play a game!" She exclaimed, grinning wickedly._

_Emerald jumped up and ran for the door, thereby escaping whatever torture Blue had planned for them. It had never ceased to amaze Ruby how agile the guy was on those fake legs. Pearl and Silver looked somewhat eager to follow suit, but Blue grabbed their arms before they could get up. The rest of the Dex Holders glanced at each other with looks varying from discomfort to horror. Blue's "games" were more often than not an attempt to play matchmaker. And she usually thought up of some horrible punishment for the loser._

_Once she was sure no one else was going to attempt an escape mission. Blue smiled at the group. "Relax, guys. I'm not trying to get you to kiss this time, I promise. It's just a trust-building exercise. We're a team, so we have to learn to get along." At this she glared pointedly at Green and Silver._

_"The game we're playing today is called 'The Prisoner's Dilemma'. Does anyone know it?"_

_Black raised his hand._

_"Black, could you explain the rules, please," Blue said._

_"Uh, okay," he said, obviously miffed at having been put on the spot. "The basic premise of the game is this; Two partners in crime have been captured by the police and are being interrogated, separately of course. The police are each trying to get the two prisoners to sell each other out. Two players play the roles of the criminals and are put in separate rooms. Each prisoner has to choose between remaining silent and betraying his or her partner. That leaves three possibilities of outcome: Outcome A, in which each remains silent, Outcome B, in which each betrays the other, or outcome C, in which one one betrays his partner, who stays silent. If both remain silent, they are both given 3 years in prison. If each betrays the other, they're both given 5 years in prison. And if one betrays the other, who remains silent, the traitor gets off scot-free while the loyal prisoner is given 10 years in prison."_

_"Thank you, Black," Blue said. "In this case, of course, we'll be substituting jail time for something a bit less harsh. Outcome A means that both players have cleanup and dish duty today after lunch, which I am so graciously hosting. Outcome B, each player has dish duty after dinner tonight, which I am again hosting, AND they have to spend tomorrow afternoon picking litter around One Island. And for outcome C, the loyal player has dish duty at lunch AND dinner tomorrow, as well as cleaning up the island, running errands for Professor Oak, painting a mural for the kids down at Earl's Orphanage, and whatever else the traitor feels like having them do, while the traitor has to do nothing."  
><em>

_Ruby raised his eyebrows. Those were pretty high stakes. _

_"How do you decide who plays whom?" Green asked._

_"I will be choosing names at random out of my hat," said Blue. With that, she took off her hat and put a bunch of paper slips inside. "Hm, it's actually not a bad thing that Emerald ran away, otherwise we'd have an odd number..." she started shuffling the papers around, and eventually began pulling them out and pairing them off._

_"Okay!" she said, once everyone was paired. "The pairings are as follows: Green and White, Crystal and Yellow, Me and Gold, Red and Diamond, Black and Platinum, Pearl and Silver, and...Ruby and Sapphire!"_

* * *

><p>And that was how Ruby found himself in the pantry of Blue's house, pondering over a dilemma which was much more complex than it had initially seemed. His game was the final one being played-Since Blue's house didn't have all that many isolated spaces, they'd had to take turns. It had actually been pretty cool to muse over who would betray whom, and who would remain silent.<p>

Crystal and Yellow had both remained silent. No surprise there, since they were the two most kind-hearted people on the planet. Since neither wanted to see the other grounded with a ton of chores, silence was the only viable option. They each got light loads of work, as Ruby had predicted.

Blue and Gold had each betrayed each other. Again, not a big surprise. Knowing them both the be somewhat devious, Ruby had predicted that one correctly as well.

Diamond had betrayed Red, who had remained silent. Ruby hadn't expected that one. From what he had seen of Diamond, the guy just seemed like a big teddy bear. Maybe he had a hidden mean streak, or maybe he was smarter than he looked. Either way, Red was gracious in defeat, though he would stare at Dia suspiciously every so often.

Pearl and Silver had betrayed each other. Ruby was guessing some form of coherent logic on Silver's part, And a rash, impatient decision on Pearl's part. Ruby had known Silver was going to betray Pearl, but due to Pearl's hasty nature, it had been a coin-toss between Outcome B and Outcome C, which Ruby had lost.

Poor White had stayed silent, only to be betrayed by Green. Ruby had predicted that one right, knowing that Unova girl tended to look at life in a positive light, and that Green certainly wouldn't spare her just because she was the newest Dex Holder. White looked very confused and unhappy when she'd found out, as if she couldn't believe that Green would do that. Clearly, she had a lot to learn, but Ruby had to give her credit for not becoming a massive cynic after all the crap that had happened to her.

Finally, Black and Platinum had both stayed silent. Ruby wasn't sure of the logic behind it, but he'd guessed correctly anyways. so he got four out of six correct, which wasn't bad. But the person whom he found hardest to predict was unfortunately the one playing against him.

Juan, his master's master, had once noted that between the two of them, Ruby's intuition was weaker than Sapphire's. (He couldn't admit that he remembered that to anyone but himself, since it happened on you-know-where). Since then, he'd been working on improving his intuitive thinking. He'd been improving, but the one thing that he could never ever predict, or even make an attempt at predicting, was Sapphire's behavior. Although he had helped with introducing her to social norms ("Bringing civilization to the savage" if he was teasing her), her personality was still as wild as it was the day he'd met her. Just because he'd made her wear clothes and brought her reading level up to just below average didn't mean that he could change who she was.

And now, here they were, locked in a game in which prediction was key. If Blue had matched his name with any other, Ruby figured he would have been able to predict his opponent.

Oh, fate was cruel.

Each player had 10 minutes to come to a decision, and Ruby had now wasted 3 of them lamenting. He forced himself to think.

Option A, Silence, protected him from the second-heaviest workload, but also made him vulnerable to the heaviest one. But, if Sapphire decided to choose silence as well, then it would be worth it. It was clear that Option A was high-risk, high-reward.

By contrast, Option B took the lightest _and_ heaviest workloads right out of the picture. If he chose betrayal, he had a chance to not have to do anything (an option preferred by anyone), or he'd get a medium sized workload. Neither were all that bad.

He'd had time, while he was waiting for his turn, to make a list of which option he'd choose for the Dex Holders he _wasn't _playing: Stay silent for Red, Yellow, Crystal, Diamond, Platinum, Black and White, betray Green, Blue, Gold, Silver, Emerald and Pearl. All of these had been fairly easy to figure out.

Ruby's attempt at logic was this: Sapphire's choice would depend entirely on whether or not she was angry or upset with him. That part was simple. Figuring out whether or not she was actually angry would be trickier than it seemed; The girl did know how to hold a grudge. She hadn't betrayed any emotions about her feelings when they'd greeted each other this morning-A sign that he was in the clear, since she was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. Evidence of this came of course from their time on Mirage Island, which he of course couldn't mention.

However, in rare instances, she would hide her emotions. As evidenced by the countless revenge pranks she'd pulled on him over the years. If she wanted her revenge, she was usually pretty clever in her plan of action. So, figuring out her emotions at this moment him was pretty much impossible.

Of course, there was a pretty big chance that she'd betray him just to spite him. A wild card.

Next, Ruby turned to his own emotions. If he betrayed Sapphire and she stayed silent, he'd have one angry (girl)friend on his hands. Besides, he didn't _really _want her stuck with all those chores. Definitely he wouldn't make her do any extras although he had the power to do so-That would just make her angrier anyways. But if he stayed silent and she betrayed him, she'd never let him hear the end of it.

Of course, there was a pretty big chance that she'd betray him just to spite him. A wild card.

Oh Arceus, this was tough.

After a few more minutes of deliberating and weighing options, Ruby had come to his decision. Slowly, he wrote his name and decision on the slip of paper provided to him, and slid it under the door.

* * *

><p><em>A few minutes later...<br>_

Ruby and Sapphire stood in Blue's living room, waiting for their verdict. Sapphire was surprised at how long Ruby had taken to come to a decision-She'd made hers almost immediately. As a result, he'd come out of his pantry to much ribbing courtesy of her. Really, there was only one logical option. Couldn't he see that?

"ATTENTION, DEX HOLDERS!" Shouted Blue, grinning hugely. This was the match-up she'd been waiting for for the past hour and a half. The other Dex Holders all seem quite excited to hear the verdict as well; even _Green _was looking at Blue intently with a small grin on his face. Dammit, was everyone else really that invested in their relationship? Stupid Blue.

"I am about to announce the decisions of Ruby and Sapphire," She said. _no duh. _"Sapphire, in the end, you decided on..." She paused for dramatic effect, looking back and forth between the two Hoenn Dex Holders. "Betrayal!"

Sapphire looked away from Ruby, though not out of shame or pity. She was enjoying herself hugely, and she didn't want Ruby's facial expression to ruin the suspense. It didn't really matter, since she knew Ruby had chosen betrayal as well, but this was still more fun.

"Ruby, you decided on...silence!"

_"WHAAAAAAT?!" _Sapphire couldn't stopped herself from shouting. She looked over at Ruby. He was looking resignedly at his shoes. Had he really chosen silence? That was totally unlike him.

Sapphire spent lunch staring at her plate. She had been so confident that Ruby was going to choose betrayal. His style was logic (after, well, _style)_, and logical thinking would have shown betrayal to be the best decision. Something was up with him, and she couldn't figure out what.

Sapphire cleared her plate and left the table, heading for the forest near Blue's house. She needed some time to be alone and think.

* * *

><p><em>An Hour Later...<br>_

"Sapphire! Hey, Sapphire!"

Sapphire was jarred out of her thoughts by a female voice calling her. She peered down from the tree branch she was perched on, some 40 feet above the ground. She soon spotted Crystal right beside the trunk of the tree. She was looking in every direction except up. Ruby would've known to check the tree branches straight away, but Crystal had absolutely no idea of Sapphire's habits, so she couldn't find her.

Sapphire silently dropped from her branch, climbing down until she could jump safely to the ground. Landing just as silently, she crept up behind Crystal and said, "HEY, SENIOR!"

Crystal jumped five feet in the and yelped. Sapphire doubled over laughing.

"For Pete's sake, Sapphire, don't do that!" Crystal said shakily. "Where did you even come from, anyways?"

Still laughing too hard to speak, Sapphire pointed up into the tree. Crystal stared, dumbfounded. The tree didn't even have any branches lower than 20 feet. How had Sapphire managed to climb that?

Crystal waited until Sapphire had calmed down, then said, "I was going to ask if you were okay, but I can see that you are now. So...bye," she said, turning on her heel.

"Wait, Senior Crystal. I'm not really...I need some help," Sapphire said, immediately becoming somber again and sitting down against the tree trunk.

Crystal came back and sat down beside her. "I figured. You didn't say a word during lunch, which is totally unlike you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sapphire nodded.

"I'm guessing this is about your game against Ruby, isn't it?" Crystal said.

Sapphire couldn't argue with her. Ever since they had met at the Battle Frontier, Crys and Sapphire had had a sort of sisterly relationship, and Crys could often read Sapphire like an open book.

As an answer, Sapphire asked: "If you'd been playing against Senior Gold, what option would you have chosen?"

Crystal smiled. Sapphire was just as good at reading her, of course.

"That's easy. I would have betrayed him within a second."

Sapphire was a bit confused. "I thought you guys were dating?" she said.

"Sapphire, there's something you need to know about love. The way I see it, there are two types of relationships. One is comparable to a smooth patch of ocean. Very few storms and gales. In general it's very sweet and amicable. That's the kind of relationship that Senior Red and Senior Yellow have, or Black and White.

"On the other hand, the other type of relationship can be compared to a typhoon. The two parties love each other, but their way of showing it is by causing each other grief and anger. That's the kind of relationship Gold and I have. It's even more so the type of relationship you and Ruby have. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

Sapphire slowly nodded. "So you'd betray Senior Gold because ya know he'd betray you?"

"Yeah, but Gold might only betray me because he knows I'd betray him. It's a bit of a Catch-22, isn't it?"

Sapphire thought for a moment, not answering. "Problem is that Ruby's a lot more sensitive than you or Senior Gold. I mean, the jerk won't admit that he confessed to me, even though we all know he's lying when he denies it."

"Well then, your typhoon is slightly one-sided."

"But I never thought so! I was 100% sure that he'd choose to betray me, only he didn't!"

Crystal frowned. "You're right. I thought he'd betray you as well. It might be a sign that he's trying to change for you.

"You know what, Sapphire? The best thing you can do to figure this out is to talk to him. You know how his mind works better than I do. Talking to him is the only way you'll be able to work it out."

Sapphire grimaced. That was one conversation she wouldn't be looking forward to. But Crystal was right. She'd have to talk to him. Ugh...

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day...<em>

Ruby washed another dish and handed it to White to be dried, then received another from Red, who was clearing the table. The three had a long day ahead of them, and they'd only just started. Red still seemed a bit surprised that he was here (remember, his partner was Diamond), and he and White were conversing about their respective games.

"That Diamond, I didn't expect that from him-"

"I should have known Green would do that, he seems cold-"

Etc. Etc. Ruby stayed silent. He didn't want to talk about his game at all. He just wanted to get all the washing, cleaning, painting and errand-running over with, and then go home.

Why had Sapphire's betrayal hurt so much? He didn't know. He'd known there was a good chance of it happening; he'd even kind of expected it. For reasons unknown to him, it had really got him down. For some reason, he found himself wishing that Sapphire would tell him why she'd done it.

As if on cue, Sapphire poked her head into the kitchen. "Um, Senior Red, White? Can I have a moment with Ruby, please?"

Red shrugged and nodded at Ruby. White smiled encouragingly at him. Slowly, Ruby left the kitchen and followed Sapphire to the living room. He plonked himself down on the couch. Sapphire was looking at him, her blue eyes shining with an emotion he couldn't identify.

"Well?" he asked. It came out harsher than he'd meant it to, causing Sapphire to flinch a bit. "Sorry. what is it?" he said in a kinder tone.

"You've got a lot to do now, don't you?" She said, not answering the question.

Ruby stood up. "If you've just called me out here to gloat, I get it. Can I go back to work now?" He said angrily.

"No, No!" pleaded Sapphire. "I just wanted to say...I'm sorry for grounding you with all that work."

Ruby was silent for a second. She was _sorry? _When was the last time she'd told him that?

"Why did you betray me, Sapphire?" He said quietly.

"I'm sorry, okay? I just...I was so confident that you'd betray me as well," she sniffed. Arceus, was she _crying?  
><em>

Sapphire looked up. "Why didn't ya betray me, anyways?"

Ruby slowly shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I was trying to help us turn a new leaf." Ruby stopped there. He had been about to open up to her, which meant that it was going to be tricky to avoid mentioning Mirage Island...

'_Why do I even care?'_ Ruby found himself wondering.

Sapphire drew closer to him. "I really am sorry. I guess I thought you'd..." Sapphire paused, searching his face. "I thought you'd be thinking _logically._"

Ruby rounded on her. "What did you say?" He said, sounding offended.

Sapphire jumped up suddenly. "You _knew! _Ya knew I'd betray you!" She exclaimed. "You _bastard, _ya knew and ya didn't betray me anyways!"

"What, Sapphire, how could I have-"

"LIAR!"

Ruby remained silent, letting her bounce around the living room for a bit. She was right. He _had _known.

"So you knew that I'd betray you, you let me get off without any work. Why, Ruby?"

Ruby didn't say anything.

Sapphire sat back down beside him, having calmed down. Everything had become even more confusing now. "If you knew I'd betray you, why were you so upset about it?" she asked.

Silence.

"Ruby...Was that a _ploy?"_ She yelled.

Ruby looked away, his face turning crimson.

"_I knew it_! I knew it I knew it I knew-"

Ruby clamped his hand over her mouth. "Quiet, Sapphire. Yes, it was a ploy, alright? I just wanted us to be more...friendly with one another, alright?" Do you have to broadcast it to the whole damn house?" he hissed.

"mph mrrf!" Sapphire said enthusiastically.

Ruby let her work herself down again. "Are you ready to speak quietly now?" Ruby asked once she'd stopped vibrating. She nodded, and he took his hand away from her mouth.

"Well, I was gonna offer to help to help you with your chores, since I felt so bad," She said immediately. "But now that I know that it was a ploy, I've no trouble leaving you to do them all by yourself."

"_Seriously?_"

"I'm just kidding, Ruby. I'll help ya out, since ya want us to be, ahem, friendlier," She said, reveling in his discomfort.

Ruby sighed. "Thanks, Sapphire," he said.

Before he knew what was happening, Sapphire punched him in the nose. "That's for trying to trick me," She growled. Man, she had some serious temper issu-

She kissed him on the cheek.

"And _that's _for not betraying me," she added.

Enh, he could work with a temper.

As Sapphire walked to the kitchen, Ruby sat on the couch, pinching his nose to stop the bleeding while basking in what had just happened. As he stood up to return to the kitchen, he caught a flash of long brown hair twirling behind the doorway, followed by a giggle. _Blue._

"Oh, shut up," He said as he walked past her, causing her to erupt into fits of laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>Despite Frantic being one of my favorite pairings, this is actually the first thing I've ever written for it. That's probably why Sapphire seems out of character, if you've noticed (I certainly have).<br>**

**Nobadi Signing Off.**


	5. Escape (Agency)

**Escape**

**Pair: Black and White (AgencyShipping)**

**Primary Genre: Romance**

**Secondary Genre: Angst**

* * *

><p>White could deal with the aching in her lungs, and her heart protesting every time her feet thumped against the ground.<p>

She could care less about the thornbushes slicing into her legs mercilessly.

She didn't even notice every twig and stone bruising her bare feet with each step she took, her boots having been surrendered to a mud puddle.

So long as she could get away from _him._

She didn't know why Ghetsis was pursuing her. She and Black had been minding their own business when he'd come. Appeared at the BW agency that morning, killed the security guards, and found the pair. He hadn't spoken a word, he'd just started attacking them. Black and she had been separated, to her horror, shortly after he'd begun attacking and Ghetsis had chosen to target her. A wise choice by him-her Pokemon were no match for his well-trained arsenal.

White didn't know how long she'd been running-A few hours? He'd kept on her. He'd chased her to a hilly area just outside Castelia City, which was very dangerous for her. She'd been running uphill for the past half-hour, and she knew she couldn't hold out much longer. Either he'd catch up with her or she'd run out of strength and fall. Either way, she was almost certainly doomed.

White could see the end of the thornbush forest, which was a relief. The bushes had opened so many cuts on her legs that virtually her entire lower half was screaming in agony. Breaking through the treeline, she looked back. Sure enough, there was Ghetsis, but he'd slowed down-In fact, he was virtually strolling. His cloak protected him from the thornbushes, so she'd had no chance of losing him in there. But why would he slow down now?

White broke through the treeline and saw her answer. 50 feet ahead lay a false horizon. White couldn't see the other side, but she knew what it held: a cliff.

White ran to the end of the cliff, desperately searching for an escape. No such luck- It dropped at least 150 feet, and the bottom was a bone-dry crag, rather than the river or lake she'd needed. The only way to go was back, but Ghetsis was right there. Her time had run out.

"I'm afraid it was futile from the beginning, my dear," Ghetsis called to her. She looked back and saw him striding towards her. "You've only managed to prolong your death."

"Why are you doing this, Ghetsis?!" She yelled at him, fighting tears.

He looked at her as a dog would look at a steak. "How old are you? 16?" He said. "It's always a shame to take such a young life.

"It's also a shame your friend got away. He's 16 as well, correct? How sad that two young lives must be destroyed..." He shook his head.

"But I can't worry about that now, the two of you have been thorns in my side for too long. For my goals to be achieved..." He shook his head, a tear welling in his visible eye. "For the good of all Pokemon, you must die."

With that, he reached into his cloak and drew out a Pokeball. "N and I met this Pokemon in the Sinnoh region, before Team Plasma was even in existence. N told me of her desires. She was a stooge, a workhorse for another Team, a group of bumbling fools. We stole her, and I gave her my word that she would be freed, and I invited her to join our cause." He threw the Pokeball, revealing a Pokemon White and never seen before. It stood about 3 feet tall, and was mainly midnight black. On the crown of its head was something resembling a native American chiefs headdress, blood-red. It also had a red tail and red band around its neck. Topping off the look were cruel eyes and crueler claws.

"Yes, she knows all about you, about your attempts to stop our cause. And she will gladly kill you," He said. "I'm sorry, my dear."

White needed some way to stall time, but there was nothing she could do. Where was Black? Surely, he'd come find her. Surely he wouldn't have abandoned her when she needed him most.

Ghetsis was confounded when she smiled. In the instant after Ghetsis had last spoken, White had caught a glimpse of something flying in the chasm below.

"You're wrong, Ghetsis. You always have been wrong. Pokemon and People need each other to survive," She said. A "The reason you suck" speech was a good stalling tactic. one she needed right now. "I can prove it to you."

"Too late, my dear girl. Night Slash!" He commanded to the Pokemon.

White jumped backwards, thereby sending her off the edge of the cliff. However, she hadn't counted on the mysterious Pokemon being that fast, and was unable to avoid the claws. The Pokemon had made contact with her chest, but she didn't have time to check the wound because she was now falling, falling to the rocks below.

Despite the wind whistling through the gashes on her legs, nearly killing her from pain, she was still smiling.

Just before she began to believe she had sorely miscalculated in her plans, a large bird flew underneath her, and she was caught by the strong, rough arms of her Knight in Shining Armor, riding a Braviary.

"You okay, Prez?" Black shouted over the wind.

White buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "I thought you weren't coming," She cried.

"I'll _always _be there for you, Prez. Don't you ever forget that," He replied.

"How did you find me?" She asked him, her voice muffled by his jacket.

"You don't think I was running from him, did you? I was tailing you since we got separated. I lost you in that forest, is all," He grinned.

White pulled back and looked up at his smiling face. "We aren't out of the woods yet, Black. If we stay here in Unova, He'll just find us and try to kill us again," She said. For some reason, her vision didn't seem able to focus.

"Good point. We need to find somewhere safe to go..." Black trailed off and stared at her chest. White felt her face heat up.

"Not the time for that, Black!" She said, covering herself.

"No, not that! Oh Arceus, that's not good!" He said. White looked down at her chest and felt sick. The gash the strange Pokemon had made was bigger than she'd realized- it stretched from just beside her left breast nearly to her collarbone. And it was bleeding a _lot_. Only now did she notice the intense pain coming from her sternum. She looked back up at Black, terrified. "Black, am I going to die?"

"What? No, White, you'll be fine, I promise! I-"

Blood began to roar in her ears, blocking out the rest of Black's words. Her vision was starting to blur from the pain and blood loss.

_'This is how I die,' _She thought. It could have been worse-Dying in the arms of your soul mate wasn't a bad way to go. But she would have liked to survive, all things considered.

She blacked out.

* * *

><p>When White's head fall backwards and she closed her eyes, Black felt more hopeless and more alone than he ever had in his life.<p>

"Prez? Prez! Prez, are you okay?" He felt a tear in his eye. "Prez, Wake up!"

He felt her wrist for a pulse and was devastated to feel only a very weak, irregular beat. He needed to find somewhere to land, somewhere fast. The nearest city was more than two hours away by flight, so by the time he got to a hospital White would be dead. He couldn't land near here; Ghetsis would find them. He had to keep flying for long enough that Ghetsis wouldn't catch them, but stop soon enough to keep White alive.

After a half-hour of flying with White unconscious in his arms, he couldn't bear it anymore. He couldn't watch her life fading in his arms any longer. Landing on a dry riverbed, he spotted a cave, which would be a suitable hiding spot from Ghetsis.

Black returned Brav to his Pokeball and carried White into the cave. Setting her down on a smooth spot, Black began to panic. This was very, very real. White could be dead within 10 minutes if he didn't do something fast. And he wasn't sure what that something was.

All of Black's memories with White came rushing back to him; Meeting her at the movie set which he accidentally burned down. Their journey through Unova together. Waving goodbye at the Battle Subway, their reunion afterwards. Being sucked into the Light Stone, unable to bear the horrified look on her face. Their first kiss on the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel...

Black fought back tears. This wasn't helping. He needed to be able to think clearly.

So he sent out Musha and put him on his head.

_To stop heavy bleeding, apply pressure to the wound using a wet cloth._

He didn't have a cloth, so he removed his jacket and emptied his water bottle into it. He was about to press it to White's chest, but then he heard:

_Remove all clothing surrounding the wound, as this could cause infection._

Black cringed; Taking off a girl's clothes, especially White's clothes, without her consent was something he'd never dream of doing. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Black sighed in relief after he removed her shirt; Her brassiere wasn't in the way of the gash, so he wouldn't need to remove that as well.

_Make sure there's no internal bleeding._

Well, it wasn't that deep, but it was bleeding fairly heavily. It wasn't like he had any other way to figure out if there was any internal bleeding, so he'd just have to hope there wasn't.

_Elevate the injured person's feet if they are in shock._

Black sent out Bo and had him elevate White's feet.

_Wait for medical help to arrive._

Dammit, that wasn't helpful! Even if an ambulance was able to navigate the rocky terrain, they would never get here in time. Not even an airlift helicopter could save her, but he called 911 anyways. He looked at the dying girl's face and felt tears welling up in his eyes. The love of his life was going to die, and there wasn't anything he could do about it...

White gasped suddenly and opened her eyes weakly. "B-Black?" She shivered.

"White! You're awake!" Black wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Don't move, you're in pretty bad shape."

White looked down, which took a lot of effort, and saw a number of unsettling things. Most importantly, of course, the massive gaping wound in her chest, but also the fact that Black was straddling her, and the fact that his hands were _very _close to her breasts. But she couldn't worry about that now.

"I'm dying, aren't I?" she asked shakily.

Black took a deep breath and forced the answer out. He couldn't allow one of the last things he said to her to be a lie. "Yes. Yes, you're dying, and I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry, White. I'm sorry I couldn't save you..." He started to cry.

White felt tears welling up in her own eyes as well. "It's not your fault, Black," She said softly. Every word took effort. She reached up and kissed him. "Thanks for everything. I love you..." She said, certain that those would be her last words.

"I love you too, White." He said, tears flowing freely down his face.

For a few moments, they sat there, just staring into each others eyes for what they were sure would be the last time and crying. The tragedy was interrupted, however, by a cheerful voice roaring/singing outside the cave.

'_Yar, har, fiddle-dee-dee, being a hiker is alright with me! do what you want cos' a hiker is free..."_

Black jumped up. "Maybe I can save you yet, White. Don't move!"

"Um, _duh," _she replied.

Black jumped up and ran outside, soon spotting an old friend.

"ANDY!" He bellowed.

The hiker jumped and turned towards the voice. He smiled.

"Black! Hey, kiddo, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"No time for that, Andy, my friend's in trouble!" (_friend, _of course, was not entirely the truth).

Andy's face became serious. "Right. Where are they, then?"

Black led Andy back to the cave. He seemed a little surprised when he saw who it was (White's face was known by all in Unova), but he got right down to business, pulling a first-aid kit out of his pack.

White didn't seem to be capable of speech anymore, so Black just held her hand and waited.

"You've managed to stop the bleeding, but she's still in trouble. The only thing I can do is sew her up and then we'll have to have her airlifted out of her so she can get a blood transfusion. It'll hurt without anesthesia, but we don't have another choice," Andy said. "Are you ready?" He asked White. She gave a tiny nod.

When the needle entered White's chest, she gripped Black's hand so hard that his fingers literally turned purple. But she was happy he was here with her.

Once Andy had finished the patch-job, he checked her pulse. "Her pulse is weak, but it's stable," he muttered. Then he turned to Black and grinned. "I think she's gonna make it, kiddo!"

Black couldn't believe his ears. 10 minutes ago she was on death's door, and now he was being told she'd be okay? It's seemed unreal.

Soon, the sound of helicopter blades came into their hearing range. Black let out a whoop, which caused Andy to cover his ears. _She was gonna make it!_

Once the helicopter had landed, Black helped the paramedics get White onto a stretcher and loaded into the helicopter. Once he was sure she was alright, He told the pilot, "Can you take us to a hospital far away from here? The guy who did this is likely still looking for us and he'll find us if we stay in the region!"

The pilot checked to make sure that White was in good enough condition to survive a long-distance flight, he nodded. Once the helicopter set off, White didn't let go of Black's hand until they were physically forced apart by nurses in a Kanto Hospital...

* * *

><p><em>2 months later...<em>

Black and White left the hospital, holding hands.

Black hadn't had any physical contact with White for 2 months, and he had never felt anything so good in his life as holding her hand. He'd been allowed to see her, but hugging, snuggling and kissing were all off limits according to the nurses. (Black would still sneak in kisses when he knew they weren't there, but still). Black had virtually never left her bedside for the past 2 months. The other Pokedex holders had all come by to see her at least once, but Black was the only constant, and she was glad for that.

Black turned to her and looked at where the cut had been. The tip of the scar was just poking out above her collar. he put his hand on the side of her neck and rubbed it with his thumb.

"When I first saw it..." he said quietly, locking eyes with her. "I thought I'd never be happy again. You almost died in my arms. And I'm going to make sure you'll never come that close again as long as I'm living."

"It wasn't your fault anyways. It was that bastard Ghetsis's. I think we have a little score to settle with him. Right now." She said, shuddering at the memory. "I still have to get the agency back on track, but that can wait for now."

"For sure," Black grinned. checking to see that no one was looking at them, he kissed her lips.

Black pulled back and they started forward. It was a beautiful day in Unova, and they had some Plasma ass to kick.

* * *

><p><strong>Nobadi, Signing off.<strong>


End file.
